WaldenFans » Won’t Back Down

Originally scheduled for release in March, Won’t Back Down is now scheduled for release on 28 September 2012.  That is all.

In what has been the most confusing thing I have ever seen, Walden Media has been renaming this one movie over and over again.  The last time something like this happened, it was with a film that started out called Will, and was renamed Rock On and then finally released as Bandslam.

The film Still I Rise was renamed as Steel Town and then Learning to Fly.  Now the title is being reported as Won’t Back Down.  The film will be released in March 2012, regardless of what title it eventually goes by.  The latest two titles are also titles of songs by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, which is interesting.  The name of the film was called into question months ago when it was called Steel Town for a while.  This is an original story about two strong women, both mothers, who channel their frustration into action and join forces to transform an inner-city school. They want to make a difference in education and the lives of their children.

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It looks like the film Still I Rise has finally been given a new name: Learning to Fly.  The name of the film was called into question months ago when it was called Steel Town for a while.  This is an original story about two strong women, both mothers, who channel their frustration into action and join forces to transform an inner-city school. They want to make a difference in education and the lives of their children.

Apparently, Still I Rise was renamed Steel Town during production.  I spoke with someone who says that the final name has not been decided yet, but I really liked the original name for the film.  It evokes motion and emotion, action and reaction.  We’ll see where it goes from here when the first poster and/or trailer is released.

The film currently doesn’t have a release date, and is about two mothers teaming up to help make a difference at a local school.

The cast of Walden Media’s Still I Rise continues to grow, and the casting announcements remain very impressive.  This week Rosie Perez and Lance Reddick signed onto the film.

Inspired by America’s current education crisis, pic stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis as two frustrated mothers who team up to transform an inner-city public school in Pittsburgh.

Oscar Isaac and Holly Hunter co-star as a teacher and the head of the teachers union, respectively.  Perez will play a former teacher who is now the poised-yet-frank head of the school board, while Reddick will play Davis’ husband who’s also a teacher.  Daniel Barnz is directing, having recently rewritten Brin Hill’s original script.

Perez, whose last studio pic was 2008′s “Pineapple Express,” earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her turn in “The Take” opposite John Leguizamo, who she recently re-teamed with on the indie comedy “Fugly!”

Reddick is best known for playing Lt. Daniels on HBO’s “The Wire.” He also had a key recurring role on ABC’s “Lost” and recently appeared on the bigscreen in “Jonah Hex.”

Holly Hunter has signed a deal to star in Still I Rise, a look at the public education crisis in America. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis star as “two frustrated mothers who team up to transform an inner-city public school.”

Hunter will play the head of the teacher’s union. Director Daniel Barnz (Beastly) is now polishing a rewrite of the original Brin Hill screenplay. Production on the Walden Media/Fox collaboration begins next week in Pittsburgh.

This is Hunter’s first feature film role since 2005, following a television role on Saving Grace.

-via Collider

Inspired by America’s current education crisis, the film stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis as two frustrated mothers who team up to transform an inner-city public school.

Oscar Isaac will play Michael Raymond, a sexy, ukulele-playing teacher who helps inspire, challenge and romance Gyllenhaal’s character throughout the film.

Daniel Barnz (“Beastly“) is directing from an original script by Brin Hill, which the helmer then rewrote.

-via

Deadline has announced that Walden Media has has set a May 23 start in Pittsburgh on Still I Rise, the working title of a drama that will star Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis. Daniel Barnz, who most recently directed Beastly, will helm the film. Barnz recently rewrote the Brin Hill screenplay. Mark Johnson is producing through his Gran Via Productions banner. The film will be distributed domestically by 20th Century Fox.

The drama is about two mothers who channel frustration into action and join forces to transform an inner-city public school. Inspired by current events, the film takes aim at the crisis of public education in America. Walden’s Michael Bostick and Morgan Palmer are overseeing the project. Gyllenhaal just completed the Tanya Wexler-directed Hysteria. Davis, who won the Tony last year for Fences, just wrapped the DreamWorks adaptation of the Kathryn Stockett novel The Help and is shooting the Stephen Daldry-directed Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

When I heard the title, Still I Rise, I instantly felt inspired.  The title alone elicits an emotional response, for some reason. I e-mailed Walden Media’s Micheal Flaherty for more details on the film, but there were still more details that had to be nailed down.  He did say, though, that it was one of his favorite projects that they were working on.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette also posted a story about it, which features more information:

“Still I Rise” is an original story about two strong women, both mothers, who channel their frustration into action and join forces to transform an inner-city school. They want to make a difference in education and the lives of their children.

The leads have yet to be cast, but production is expected to start May 2 or May 9, Walden Media executive Mylan Stepanovich said Monday.

Daniel Barnz, whose directing credits include “Beastly,” starring Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer, and “Phoebe in Wonderland,” with Elle Fanning, will direct and write the screenplay. Veteran producer Mark Johnson also is on board.

“We’re obviously very excited to come there, we haven’t shot there before,” Mr. Stepanovich, a native of McKeesport, said by phone. “Our director really responded to the city and what he thought the city could deliver to the look of the film.”

However, when the commonwealth’s film tax credit seemed in doubt, the production also scouted six or seven other locations.

“We were waiting, fingers crossed for a few weeks and some nervous days, but with the governor approving the tax credit, it all worked out so we’re very happy,” said Mr. Stepanovich, senior vice president of physical production. The credit was vital, he said, given the movie’s budget, unspecified but less than a modest $20 million.

Walden, a film production and publishing company best known for family entertainment such as “The Chronicles of Narnia,” aims to have the film ready for possible release by mid-December.

“We are starting prep today, so we’ll start photography seven to nine weeks from now. Daniel’s doing a little bit of a rewrite, so we’re accommodating that part of his schedule, but we hope to be shooting either May 2 or May 9.”